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Multiple-Meaning Words

A multiple-meaning word is spelled and said the same way but means different things: a bat flies at night, and you hit a ball with a bat. Context is the only clue, which is why these words are such good reading practice.

Here are 124 multiple-meaning words from past ClueBy puzzles, each with a real example sentence for every meaning. Use them as a reference, or make a printable worksheet below.

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Students read each sentence and write the missing word. Every word appears in several sentences, each time with a different meaning.

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Word bank
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Multiple-Meaning Words

Name: ____________________Date: __________

Write the missing word from the word bank in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

Word bank: rash · clip · current · saw · plane · cold · press · degree

  1. The water is too ________________.
  2. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  3. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  4. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  5. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  6. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  7. Did you ________________ the button?
  8. She's very handy with a ________________.
  9. Don't do anything ________________.
  10. The ________________ took off on time.
  11. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  12. He works in a ________________ mill.
  13. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  14. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  15. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  16. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  17. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  18. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  19. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  20. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  21. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  22. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  23. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  24. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.

Sentences from ClueBy, Tatoeba (CC BY 2.0 FR) and Common Voice (CC0). clueby.com

Answer key

  1. cold — not warm
  2. clip — for paper
  3. cold — an illness
  4. degree — from a university
  5. plane — in geometry
  6. rash — a series
  7. press — to push
  8. saw — the tool
  9. rash — hasty
  10. plane — an aircraft
  11. cold — the Cold War
  12. saw — the tool
  13. current — electric
  14. clip — to cut
  15. plane — a tool
  16. clip — a video
  17. degree — an amount
  18. saw — past of 'see'
  19. current — happening now
  20. current — of water
  21. press — newspapers
  22. degree — temperature
  23. rash — on the skin
  24. press — a publisher

Multiple-meaning words list

Tick up to 10 words to build a worksheet with just those words.

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Frequently asked questions

What are multiple-meaning words?

Words with the same spelling and pronunciation but more than one meaning, like bark (of a dog or of a tree) or bank (for money or of a river). You can only tell which meaning is meant from the rest of the sentence.

Are multiple-meaning words the same as homonyms?

Mostly, yes. Teachers often use "multiple-meaning words" and "homonyms" for the same idea. Homophones are different: they sound alike but are spelled differently, like flour and flower.

Are the worksheets free?

Yes. Make and print as many as you like for home or classroom use. Each sheet has its own link, so you can print the same one again.

Where do the words come from?

From past ClueBy puzzles, a daily game where you sort twelve sentences by their missing word. A new puzzle every day adds four more words to this list.

Sentences from ClueBy, Tatoeba (CC BY 2.0 FR) and Common Voice (CC0). clueby.com